Alvarado Team - Monday

Here are the pics I got from Kelly's camera! Enjoy! The New Day girls LOVE the long hair of these girls! :)

Caedmon is enjoying having his Alvarado friends around :)

Cambree too :)

Cassie & Brittany lead in a game of Duck Duck Goose

Have I mentioned that the kids love Cassie (and her phone)??? ;)

"Mrs. Telly" has always been a special part of our lives :)

The girls spent a couple of hours painting window frames on our new school building

Meanwhile, all of the guys worked on building bookshelves for our library - they got 6 done! (I promise, even though there are no pics!) Play practice - here is Joseph, Mary, & Baby Jesus :)

We spent a lot of New Year's Eve night playing Spicy Uno

Margaret welcomes the team into the Luyando House on the tour. Sadly, Margaret's father passed away this morning so she will be away from New Day for about a week as she attends his funeral.

Heading out on the tour

You can't see her in this pic, but it is Kailey who is teaching all of these kids at VBS!

Cassie & Brittany working on VBS crafts

Speaking of VBS, it was crazy yesterday! We started with 30 kids and at the end of VBS there were 110. AND...it was pouring down rain the whole time! That's why I have no pics of Recreation time, which was a blast! We're hoping there are more kids today, and no rain from 3pm-5pm! Tony gets dogpiled :)

We had an adventure on New Year's Eve - Debbie brought over a "jackfruit." Not sure what it is, but it looked and smelled nasty! Most of the team tried it...not me! As Laura said, "that just looked wrong at many levels."

And finally, for the quote of the day...there were so many to choose from (Tyler...) but I'm going to go with Mrs. Laura: "I've had mud on my feet two times in my life...yesterday and today." :)

Alvarado Team!

Our home church where we were for 4 years before coming to New Day is here on a mission trip!! It is awesome to see some of our former youth and youth leaders here in Zambia! I keep saying, "It's so weird to see your faces in my house!" Team gets ready to leave the church for the DFW airport!

Team arrives in Zambia to some HEAT! The day they got here was the hottest day we've had since October!

Several of the team members had their first experience milking a cow :) Good job Ashlee!

Brandi cracked me up milking in her nice church dress!

Kailey was a pro!

Cassie's face is priceless! She didn't last very long!

Blu & Debbie show them how it's done :)

Laura's words went something like "Not one fiber of my being has any desire whatsoever to milk a cow..but I'll carry the milk!"

Aaron gives Kelitah a boost as he checks out our new library that FBC Alvarado built!

Ashlee gets some love from Christina in church

Tyler enjoyed dancing in church :)

Time for New Day birthdays!! Cynthia turned 10 yesterday! And Elizabeth will be 31 on Wednedsay!

Phillip turned 6 on Friday - he's very serious :)

Tyler and Kenny will have birthdays on the 6th and 7th, so we included them in our celebration!

I don't think they knew about our water pouring tradition though! ;)

SPLASH!

Pour Tyler got drenched!

Blu pouring water into Phillip's pockets!

Ashlee, Brittany, & Brandi taught Sunday School for the kids at church

Brittany leading Axer into church

Muchoni has REALLY enjoyed Cassie's phone :)

Laura & Gertrude

Wes & Laurie sent a letter & Christmas gifts with the team - here Darbi is reading the letter to everyone! The kids AND adults LOVED their gifts!

My namesake, Baby Darbi, came to church!

I know these aren't pics of everyone on the team, but I'll update more as the week goes on!

2012 Book of the Year

I read 61 books in 2012 (currently reading The Life of Pi)! I had big plans when I started the year to only read classics, but I got bogged down in Oliver Twist (it was SOOO depresssing!!) so that didn't last long! So, what you've all been waiting for...the 3rd Annual Darbi's Book of the Year Blog! :) Fiction: I read some great books this year, but hands down I am giving my fiction recommendation to the Chop, Chop series by L.N. Cronk.

I have read the first seven books of the series and am eagerly awaiting Book 8. These books are sweet, Christian fiction, but the characters are so real that I found myself laughing and crying throughout the series. And...(a true test)..I have read books 1&2 to Blu and he loved them as well. The first book is probably more geared towards teenage readers, but as the series progresses (follows the same characters basically from preschool through their 60s), older readers will find that they can't put it down! Try it!! The first book is free on the Kindle! Nonfiction: I struggled more with this one. I REALLY enjoyed George Bush's autobiography, and if you are a football fan, then Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy's autobiographies are must reads. Kisses from Katie changed my life and how I look at the Zambians around me. BUT...I am going to give my nonfiction book of the year recommendation to...

His Needs, Her Needs by Dr. Willard Harley Someone told us years ago we should read this book, but we didn't get around to it until this year. I think God gives each person something that they are passionate about - something that causes their hearts to break and that they grieve over. I hope that makes sense. Most would assume that my "passion" is orphans, and of course that is one of my passions. But something I have recently discovered is how my heart breaks over divorce. Please hear me out - I am not saying in judgment "If you are divorced, you are a terrible person." I am just saying that very few things make me sad like divorce does. This year I witnessed family members who were separated reconcile. They are now back together, raising their children in a godly home. I also witnessed two long-time family friends divorce, and it shook me to the core. I'm not saying that this book is the cure-all for any and every potential divorce. But I will say that it opened my eyes to things about my husband that after 11 years of marriage, I didn't know. And it woke me up to how nobody, Christian or not, can expect a marriage to work without effort. I read that the vast majority of divorces occur in the 20-25 year mark of a marriage, once the children have left the nest. That surprised me, and it made me realize that you don't reach a certain year mark in your marriage and suddenly you have made it over the hump and you are guaranteed a smooth-sailing marriage. It is constant work, and this book helped me see ways that I could be a better wife to my husband. Admittedly, there are some cheesy parts, but Blu & I laughed through them and both came away learning a lot about each other. Leave me comments of your favorite books you read in 2012, and I'll make sure I get to them in 2013! :)

Christmas Afternoon/Evening!

So this afternoon Blu, Debbie, and the New Day kids headed out into the villages to take some cinnamon bread and fresh milk to some of our friends! They visited Salome, Georgina, and Elina (3 widows), and the headman and his family. The kids had a blast! All of the kids at the headman's village

Salome listening to the kids sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!" Blu said she was all alone, out in her fields working on Christmas Day. :(

Caedmon and his girls. He says, "Daddy, I can't decide if I should marry Sisi or Cynthia..."

Then all of the kids headed back to our house for a phone call to Papa Wes & Mama Lala!

And at 5pm, we had our American Christmas dinner, which for some reason I didn't get a picture of!! But we had roast chicken, stuffing, green bean casserole, potato casserole, carrot souffle, rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and cherry crisp! Then it was time for more presents - coloring books from Ms. Carolyn and some audio books from Ms. Debbie!

Love these ladies!

A Texas Rangers poster for Ms. Carolyn the sports fanatic!

Noodles for Debbie!

Carolyn got us coffee mugs, chocolate, and a beautiful jewelry set for me! Debbie got us a sweet card and some money for our upcoming anniversary!

Carolyn also got a new microwave from her home church in Texas!!

We had a great Christmas celebration here in Zambia. Tomorrow the decorations will be put away for another 2 years, as we will be in the USA next Christmas. Tomorrow also begins a few days of preparation for our Alvarado, Texas team that arrives on Saturday!